Supports Available in School

The following support is available in Irish schools. The level of support a student will receive is determined by the degree of their dyslexic difficulty.

Class/Subject Teacher

The first line of support for a student with dyslexia is the class teacher. The class teacher or subject teacher has an essential role to play in being aware and considerate of each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Even if students attend learning support, they still spend the majority of their school week in the general classroom. Classroom and subject teachers are expected to differentiate their teaching to accommodate the varying needs of the pupils in their classroom. Reasonable accommodations in the classroom can also be negotiated, e.g. a reduced number of spellings to be learned, advance notice of reading passages.

Additional Teaching Support

In September 2017 there were changes made to the way that additional teaching support for students with special educational needs (including dyslexia) was allocated. The roles of Learning Support Teacher and Resource Teacher were amalgamated into the role of Special Education Teacher. Schools were allocated an overall formula-derived amount of funds from the Department based on the educational profile of the school; as opposed to the number or nature of students with diagnosed conditions or disabilities. Schools have the devolved authority to allocated those funds (most commonly in the form of Special Education Teachers’ teaching time) to the students in the school who need additional teaching support (including those with dyslexia).

The changes are all outlined in Circular 0013/2017 (for Primary Schools) and 0014/2017 (for Post-Primary schools). The Department also published accompanying guidelines which set out best practice as to how schools should allocate these resources to best meet the learning needs of all pupils with special educational needs. There are primary and post-primary versions of these guidelines.

The Department of Education and Skills are due to produce a guide for parents explaining the changes and how the new scheme operates. As of October 2017 it has yet to be published. It will be posted here when the DAI is alerted to its publication.

Reading Schools

The special reading schools are full-time national schools, provided by the Dept. of Education and Skills and so are free of charge. The regular school curriculum is followed, with the exception of Irish. The current pupil-teacher ratio is 9:1 in these classes. Children usually attend for one to two years and then return to their own school. The criterion for admission to a reading school is average/above average intelligence and literacy scores at the 5th percentile or lower. The pupil should have completed 2nd class or be at least 8 years old and not more than 12 years old. Applications should normally be made before March for consideration for a place starting the following September.

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DAI activities are part-funded by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (Scheme to Support National Organisations 2016-2019 administered by Pobal), the Special Education Section of the Department of Education and Skills, SOLAS and KWETB.